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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655713">South of Sunrise</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/saggiclowns/pseuds/saggiclowns'>saggiclowns</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Western, M/M, Southern Gothic, Vampires, Weird West, Werewolves, historical fiction - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:42:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655713</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/saggiclowns/pseuds/saggiclowns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year 1875, Joey Wheeler finds himself stranded in the Chihuahuan desert south of the Texas border. He's about as far away from the streets of Brooklyn as he can be and just as far from those he loves and the fresh start he's always wanted. Just when it seems his luck has finally run out and fate closes in, a bizarre turn of events introduces him to a mysterious and unfriendly traveling companion named Seto Kaiba with secrets of his own. Their paths become inextricably entwined as the two embark on a journey of revenge, rescue, hope and ultimately a search for the truth of what they've both become. The southern soil can't bury what refuses to stay dead.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>South of Sunrise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Of all the ways Joey Wheeler expected to depart this earth, dying of thirst in a desert south of the Mexican border ripped half to shreds had to be last on the list. He sat catching his breath in the dirt and shook the canteen he carried, then set it aside when he heard its final drops sloshing around. It was pointless to ration at this point but it seemed like the thing to do. On all sides the flat desert stretched for endless miles and above him the sky was a spray of stars with the bright half disk of waxing moon hanging low. Even halved, its light was bright enough to illuminate the dry dust and straggling brush that surround him. All things considered, it wasn’t the ugliest place to die. </p><p>Joey’s throat started to close up at that thought and he winced from a twinge of pain caused by the long scratch marks that split across his chest. He lifted his shirt to inspect the wound he’d wrapped the best he could. The skin felt tight and it made moving and breathing a chore, but somehow it had already begun stitching together and healing over. Not that it mattered a good goddamn, because he was gonna die out here without food or water and all that’d be left of him would be a corpse for the buzzards to pick over.</p><p>Tears started to push at the corners of his eyes. He pushed them back. It wasn’t gonna do him any good to cry over how close he’d come to something resembling a normal life. He’d gotten out of Brooklyn somehow, escaped that bloodthirsty maniac Hirutani and his street thugs with about three brain cells between the lot of them and a taste for busting kneecaps. He’d made it all the way to goddamn Texas and saved up every cent he could, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to get the rest of the way to Tristan and Serenity. It was never enough.</p><p>He’d gotten out from under Hirutani's thumb just to sell his soul to another demon, Bandit Keith and his merry band of assholes. He convinced himself it’d just be a few jobs, enough to get together the coin it’d take to reach his new life. Sad part was, he might as well have signed his own death warrant. Guys like Hirutani and Keith didn’t like losing anything that belonged to them. They’d break their toys sooner than they’d let them get away. On the night he planned to make a break for it he walked right into a setup, too desperate and caught up on getting the hell out to think it through, and that’s when he’d seen Keith turn into the monster he really was.</p><p>Joey shuddered at the memory. He tried to stop it but the images burned furiously at him in the open aired darkness. Yellow and brown fur sprouting and growing over Keith’s body twisting and convulsing. Keith’s eyes glowing sick orange and rolling in their sockets. Yellow teeth like steak knives extending from a long snout. Then sharp claws ripping into Joey like he was made of paper followed by a long drop into the Rio Grande. When he somehow survived the fall and managed to pull himself out it seemed like serendipity that saved his ass from the frying pan, but now he was in the fire.</p><p>A million tall tales and spooky bedtime stories crept up then. Stories about men who turned into wild beasts, terrorizing small towns by the light of a full moon and devouring everyone in sight. Joey hugged his knees to his body in the cold at the thought that he’d end up a monster just like Keith. But he wouldn’t. Because he was going to die here in the dirt. He hated the thought but in a way it was better. He hated knowing he’d never see Serenity or Tristan again, but they had to be nearly to California by now if they weren’t there already. They would be okay.</p><p>The baby would be born soon, too. Serenity would tell the kid about him, only the good parts, nothing about all the times he’d lied and cheated and stole and put her through hell with worry. They would remember him. They'd go on and they would be okay without him. That's what he told himself, anyway.</p><p>Joey let out a long exhale and listened to the wind blowing dust over rocks and the rustle of small animals and dry brush. He came to the conclusion that he’d rather meet his maker out here as a free man than in the clutches of Hirutani or the claws of Bandit Keith. He repeated this thought in his mind and the desert quiet became almost comforting.</p><p>Something stirred in the dirt in front of him then to break the still. Joey froze. He stared at the ground as it churned and began to sink in. He fell back on his palms and moved away from it, but he could only watch on in horrified fascination too stunned and weak to get up. Something pushed up out of the dirt and a scream perched in Joey’s throat but it got caught when he saw what had sprouted from the ground like a gnarled and twisted branch. It was a hand. A long white hand with thin fingers had clawed its way above the dirt, and it was trying to get out. </p><p>There was something shining in the dark wrapped around the hand, and against his better judgement and all instinct Joey moved closer to see what it was. It was a thin gold chain, and at its end there was a photograph inside a locket. It was hard to see in the dark as the hand moved frantically, but Joey could make out the face of a small black haired boy with bright and clear almond eyes. He wore a wide smile between his rounded cheeks. In the dark the boy looked at Joey, and he looked back. He reached out to grab onto the hand and he began to pull.</p><p>The dirt loosened and shifted to fall into a growing pit as Joey struggled to his feet and pulled harder on the hand. More of the limb attached to it became exposed and he grabbed that too for leverage. With one last sharp pull he fell against the dirt with the impact of a heavy body against him. He felt the weight leave him and turned to see a man — a boy, really, about his own age, covered head to toe in a coating of dirt. The boy shook while he coughed and sputtered, shaking the dust from his dark hair. He lay flat on his back and his mouth gaped as he tried to take in a breath of air, but it never came. Joey scrambled for the canteen and he tipped it to the boy’s lips to pour what little water there was left into him.</p><p>He coughed for a while longer until the water calmed the dry rattling of his gasps. By the time the canteen was empty he had calmed his panicked writhing, but he didn't yet acknowledge Joey next to him. He stared at the vast starry sky with dark blue eyes, the same intense color and smooth shape as the boy in the photo. Finally he looked to Joey and his hand reached to pull on his sleeve. The chain of the locket was still wrapped tight around his hand.</p><p>“Which way is Texas.” The boy croaked in a dry voice. </p><p>“You — how’d you —? You were buried in the —”</p><p>“Which. Way.” The boy said. His words were like two heavy bolts hammered in Joey’s ears. </p><p>Joey blinked and pointed Northeast, back towards the Rio Grande where he’d crossed the border. The stranger said nothing and sat up. He rooted around in the newly disturbed pit, the shallow grave from which he’d been returned to life. He pulled at the end of something that looked like a long stick Joey soon realized was a walking cane ending in a brass handle. Joey watched as the boy sank the cane into the dirt and struggled to get to his feet. He made it about halfway before he fell and Joey jumped up to catch him under the arms. The boy managed to steady on his cane and he shoved Joey away.</p><p>“Get off me.” He said brusquely. The smooth arch of his lip had turned down in a sour grimace and his eyes were hardened with distrust. He turned away from Joey and began to stagger in the direction he’d pointed.</p><p>“Hey, wait!” Joey called. He followed to the stranger’s side and walked to match his slow and plodding pace. “I’m not tryin’ to be an asshole, but you ain’t gonna make it very far like that. How’d you even end up down there, and where the hell are you going —”</p><p>The boy came to a dead stop and he turned to Joey sharply. Joey’s blood froze when he saw that his eyes appeared as two flat disks of gold, like the reflecting eyes of a hungry predator in the cold blue moonlight. His mouth opened to speak and Joey saw two long fangs glinting behind the chapped skin of his lips. It reminded Joey of Keith’s wild animal gaze and fearsome jaw. He fell quiet and stood completely still.</p><p>“I am going to complete unfinished business.” He said, his voice grave. Joey’s eyes flicked down to where his hand was clutched tight on the cane that held him upright. He stared at the locket still hanging there.</p><p>“Who’s the kid?” Joey asked numbly. He was scared shitless but the question forced itself out anyway.</p><p>The boy closed his eyes for a moment and released a long sigh. When he opened them again they had returned to their calm dark blue. When he next spoke the long teeth had disappeared.</p><p>“He is my brother. I am going to Texas to get him, and kill the son of a bitch who buried me in that hole.” </p><p>“You’re never gonna get there on your own.” Joey said again.</p><p>“It’s not any of your business.” The stranger glowered.</p><p>“You’re no good to him dead.” Joey said.</p><p>The boy opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned away from Joey and started again towards the river. After a moment he called back, “Are you coming or not.”</p><p>Joey moved to his side again and they were quiet for a while. He was unsure how far they had to go before they reached the river, probably too far for them to survive without any water to share between them. Joey looked up to his walking partner in consideration. He was unusually tall, thin as a rail, white as a sheet and absolutely filthy from head to toe with the meanest mug Joey had seen in a while. All things considered he’d been in a hell of a lot worse company before.</p><p>“So, you got a name there stretch?” Joey asked. The boy said nothing so Joey pressed again. “Mine’s Joey, from Brooklyn.”</p><p>“You’re a long way from New York.” The stranger observed.</p><p>“Yeah. You ain’t the only one around with unfinished business.” Joey said, his eyes still on the boy’s stoic expression.</p><p>“It’s Seto.” He said after another long silence. </p><p>Joey smiled and held out a hand. To his surprise Seto took it and they shook. He pulled his hand back and inspected the locket he still held, then looped it over his neck. They walked in silence through the dry desert with only the moon and stars as witnesses to their resurrection.</p>
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